The Voice in the Darkness
by SnowWeasel
Summary: One day something may break in you, one day you may find everything in your life has changed. For Riku that day, that break, that change all happened in the span of 3 minutes and 58 seconds. Soriku fanfic! Prepar for sad moments coupled with fluffy awkward romance


Darkness. That was all there was. No voice. No sound. Just this never ending darkness. _"How did I get here? Where is here? Am I dead? Is this it? Is my life over?" _These thoughts just reverberated off into the darkness just to get swallowed up by it. Finally, at the point of accepting the crushing darkness and surrendering to it; a voice pierced through the very fiber of your being. "…riku!" _"Ah who is that? It's very recognizable."_ "…Riku!" _"It seems closer. Who is that_?" "Riku!" "_I need to hear that voice again. This voice I must know who it is! I CANNOT LEAVE THIS VOICE." _"RIKU!"

A light blinded Riku as he woke with a jolt; immediately sitting upright and gasping for air for he felt every breath could be his last. His heart was racing and with every beat sweat began to bead on his skin, plastering his long silver hair (now messy) to his face and neck. Still, against his already hot skin, warm clasping hands gently attempted to push back onto the bed. _"No!"_ He mentally shouted for he could not speak with a tube down his throat keeping him alive while he was unconscious. _"They don't understand I need to find THAT VOICE!" _His senses slowly returned to him and he started to recognize smells and noises one by one. First came the cutting smell of bleach attempting to be covered up with lilac air freshener followed swiftly by the smell of incense, most likely the origin of which was a blanket of his strewn across his legs and lap, then sounds started to return. First he noticed the sounds of the city, the jackhammers from the construction site across the street for a new hotel, then a car horn and angry shouts as an accident was nearly avoided down the block, the sound of the EKG which was beeping frantically trying to keep up with his racing heart (and failing he noticed rather quickly), and finally those voices shouting at him to lay down. This span of a few seconds between him jolting upright and swiftly, but gently, being returned to the bed where he laid shaking and jerking his head as he tried to comprehend what had just happened to him.

He first saw his dear childhood friend Kairi on his left, tears flowing freely from her deep blue eyes and across her face as she cupped her hands over her mouth yet he still saw the corners of her lips turned up in a smile and heard her tinkling laugh. He turned slightly and saw Axel and Roxas near the door. Roxas, with a dumbfounded look on his face and Axel clasping his shoulders laughing and smiling like Kairi and saying something to Roxas that he couldn't quite hear yet. Finally, he looked to his right and saw his oldest and closest friend Sora. His hair was a complete mess (wasn't much of an improvement Riku noted at this point) with the light above his head creating a halo above his head and like Kairi, Sora was crying. For some reason Riku wanted to reach up and wipe those tears for they made him want to cry as well. He wanted to reach up and hug his childhood friend and comfort him. Then he noticed it. He noticed it the instant Sora opened his mouth and called him a jackass for scaring them like that. He noticed that the very voice that brought him from the darkness, the voice that he craved to hear and wanted to say his name for what seemed like an eternity but was now saying it; ringing out with perfect clarity, belonged to his best friend Sora. And all he could manage out as the tube was gingerly removed from his throat was a raspy, "You deserve it you ass, for waking me up."

In the next following hours there was a whirlwind of crying, laughing, hugging and cheers from everyone but Riku who simply responded and went along with the moment as he attempted to fight his heart with his mind, a fight his mind was sorely losing. He struggled to contain the emotions at the front of his mind which was like trying to beat the ocean back with a broom. Eventually he smothered those emotions under a blanket of urgency at trying to find out what had happened. By the time he looked up he noticed that Axel and Roxas were gone and Kairi and Sora were standing at the foot of his bed talking amongst each other. _"God how gorgeous Sora's hair looks in the filtered white light of the hospital. How I wish I could just run my finge- No! That's your best friend for Christ's sake! What are you thinking?!"_ He thought to himself as the nearby nurse check his I.V. for what seemed like the 20th time since his awakening. With a motion from Kairi and Sora, Riku's mind leapt back just in time to see Kairi and Sora kiss goodbye and Kairi left as Sora returned to his seat to the right of him.

Riku felt his heart strangle his already cracked voice as the unfamiliar pain of jealously racked his body. With a swallow he managed to turn to Sora and ask, "Now tell me, what happened? Why am I here?" Sora's usually goofy grin turned to somber visage of pain as his mind recollected the events since Riku's hospitalization. With down-turned shining eyes he asked in a low voice, "Don't you remember?" Riku replied with a laugh in a brave attempt to lighten the serious mood that claimed his small hospital room (one that caused way more pain then it was worth) and choked out, "If I knew do you think I would be asking your goofy ass? Now tell me" Sora looked up into his friend's eyes and said "Riku, you were hit by a car." All at once it returned to him. The car swerving as the driver lost control along the October roads as he was making his across the crosswalk to the small restaurant where he was to eat dinner with his friends. Time seemed to slow down in that moment and it was all he could do to breathe as the car impacted into his legs first and he slammed into the hood of the light blue car. He distinctly remembered the heat of the car as he rolled into the windshield and continued to roll over the top of the car. The last thing he remembered was screaming before he fell into darkness. Riku swallowed his stopping heart and simply asked with a blank stare, "How long?" Sora quickly started talking, "Riku its ok it doesn't matter real-" Riku quickly grabbed his friend by his collar with both hands and pulled him close, inches away from his face, and asked in a low voice; nearly pleading with his dearest friend, "How long Sor? How long was I trapped in that never ending nightmare? How long?" Sora looked away and mumbled out, "4 days." Now normally that wouldn't bother Riku, hell he had drunken stupors that lasted longer then that after his friend Jarvan's spring break parties, but this was 4 days of that darkness. 4 days of feeling that no matter what you would, could, or did do you were to spend forever trapped here. Trapped in that loneliness. His eyes glazed over as he robotically released Sora and returned to his spot on the hospital bed and promptly passed out.

When Riku woke his nurse and doctor were checking in on him and changing his dressings. A quick glance around told him that they were alone and once the doctor noticed him awake he made his way to his bedside. "Hey." The doctor spoke with a gentle voice that was betrayed by the unbridled concern underlying all his words. "How you feeling?" He asked then continued you say. "You gave us all quite a scare." Riku, ignoring his question, responded with a question of his own. "Hey doc, can a person's feelings change? Like when I was out can something in me change as in the way I feel about something?" With a swallowed he asked, "About someone?" With a sigh the doctor said in an understanding but serious tone, "By all accounts I don't see why not. Especially with a case as unique as yours." Confused, Riku inquired, "A case like me? What do you mean by that?" The doctor answered with a confused look of his own that quickly was replaced by a face that could only mean that Riku was in the dark about something, and Riku did not like that look. "What do you mean doc? Tell me." "Ok." The doctor replied, "But you have to remain calm." Riku simply responded with a quick shake of his head. "While you were out," he started, "your condition only worsened as time went on. A lot of us thought you weren't going to make it and for a few minutes there, you didn't. What I'm trying to say Riku," He placed a hand on Riku's shoulder, "Is that for 3 minutes and 58 seconds you were officially dead."


End file.
